


Sleep

by FlightOfInsanity



Series: A Pair of Idiots [5]
Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Forerunners, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-06
Updated: 2016-05-06
Packaged: 2018-06-06 19:03:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6766051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlightOfInsanity/pseuds/FlightOfInsanity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Don't knock it 'til you try it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleep

“Don’t give me that look.”

Splendid Dust honestly wasn’t sure what expression was on his face, but he quickly schooled it back to neutral and asked, “What look?”

“Your ‘sleeping is for infants’ look,” Bornstellar said.

Ah. That look.

Sleeping was something of a sore point between the two. It was something Bornstellar liked to do when he had the chance and it was something Dust tended to look down on. Forerunner armor removed the need for sleep, allowing them to make full use of the entire day. But Bornstellar, for some reason Dust didn’t understand, made a habit of shedding his armor in favor of loose-fitting fabric robes and disappearing into his room to sleep.

Most times, the Warrior simply ignored any baffled looks sent his way. Every now and then he would try to get the Councilor to just try sleeping for once. It looked like this was going to be one of those times.

Dust shifted his shoulders in an “I don’t know what you’re talking about” gesture. “It just seems unnecessary and… unpleasant.”

“Unpleasant?” Bornstellar asked, with a touch of humor.

“You just… _lay there_. Unconscious. For hours. It seems childish and uncomfortable and like a waste of time.”

“How would you know if you’ve never tried it?”

Dust’s face scrunched up – an expression he tended to make when he knew he was being backed into a logical corner and refused to admit it. Born shrugged a shoulder and turned to leave. He knew arguing with the Councilor would get them nowhere.

“Seems _childish_ to hate something without even giving it a chance,” he said as he disappeared into his room, letting the door sliding closed behind him punctuate the statement.

Glaring at the impassive door for a moment before turning away in a huff, Dust attempted to bury himself in his work again. He was not childish. It was not childish to know sleeping was useless. _Everyone_ knew sleeping was useless. It wasn’t his fault if Bornstellar wanted to ignore the millennia Forerunners had spent using their armor and _not sleeping_ and–

No.

He was going to prove Bornstellar was wrong. The Promethean had challenged him to this argument and Splendid Dust was going to _win_. He would sleep and he would prove that it was uncomfortable and useless.

He went and removed his armor, turning it over to the house for basic maintenance. He wasn’t entirely sure what one was supposed to wear while sleeping, but he figured whatever Bornstellar had been wearing was a good place to start. The Warrior was a little larger than Dust was, so the borrowed robes were a little too big, but that didn’t matter – just more, albeit flimsy, evidence that sleeping was going to be terrible.

The room was dark and it took several frustrating seconds for his eyes to adjust enough he was confident he wouldn’t trip on something. Bornstellar appeared to already be asleep, his form taking up about half of the bed, his breathing slow and steady.

Dust carefully crept to the other side and climbed into the empty half of the bed – first perching on the edge and then slowly wiggling his way under the blankets. He lay flat on his back, hands folded on his stomach, and realized he didn’t really know how to get to sleep. It wasn’t something he’d bothered trying to remember since he didn’t sleep and only now did he realize he’d forgotten how sleep worked. Did it just happen? Or was he supposed to do something?

He huffed and shifted around. Maybe if he laid a different way? Left side? Right side? It still didn’t feel quite right so maybe if he–

“Will you quit that?”

Dust flinched in surprise but stopped moving around. “I, uh… thought you were asleep.”

“I _was_.”

“…… sorry.”

Bornstellar didn’t reply and Dust lay in the dark for a while longer, trying to not move too much and already hating this decision. This was ridiculous and he still didn’t feel like he was about to sleep. He rolled from his side to his back with a heavy flop and heard a sigh from the Warrior next to him.

Dust drummed his fingers idly on the blanket before blurting out, “How do you get to sleep?”

A pause. “How do you–” Bornstellar stopped and shifted so he could peer at Dust over his shoulder. “ _How do you get to sleep?_ ”

“ _I’m_ not the weird one that does this all the time,” Dust said, defensive.

Born snorted and ran a hand down his face. He honestly never expected Dust to actually decide to sleep and now, for whatever reason, here he was and apparently he’d forgotten how to sleep.

“How do you forget…? Never mind,” he said. “Um. Well, first you need to stop moving around so much. Just… find something that feels comfortable and hold still.”

“And then what?”

“Just…” Bornstellar wasn’t entirely sure. “You just kind of go to sleep?”

Dust couldn’t believe what he just heard and couldn’t help the sarcasm that slipped out. “Just… go to sleep. Amazing. I never would have guessed.”

“Idiot,” Bornstellar said playfully. “It’s not… You don’t really _do_ anything. You do _nothing_ and end up asleep.”

“Thanks.”

“Try pretending to be asleep for a while.”

“Pretend to be asleep?” Dust deadpanned. “This is ridiculous.”

“Just try it.”

Dust rolled his eyes, tempted to get up and leave. But he was already here, and he wasn’t about to forfeit this one-sided challenge. “ _Fine.”_

He scrunched farther into the blankets, moving around as much as possible before finding a position that was good enough. He felt stupid, laying in the dark and pretending to be asleep while Bornstellar managed to easily slip back to actual sleep. Dust stubbornly kept pretending and didn’t notice when his mind and body caught up and he went from pretending to actually sleeping.

Someone was touching his shoulder. His mind felt fuzzy and it took a few seconds to process the sensation. No, they were shaking his shoulder – a gentle, insistent movement. He tried to scoot away from the hand and felt it lift away.

“You have to get up eventually,” a voice said.

Dust belatedly realized the voice belong to Bornstellar and he mumbled a string of consonants before he knew what he was doing. Sleepily, he blinked opened his eyes as he processed that what had come out of his mouth wasn’t actual words.

Something moved and he squinted up, seeing Bornstellar standing over him and looking far too smug.

The Promethean’s brows went up as he looked down at the sleepy Builder in amusement. “What was that?”

Dust’s squint turned into a stubborn glare and he mumbled, “Go away.”

Bornstellar’s amusement only seemed to grow and Dust responded with a muffled, “I hate you.”

“Sure,” came the entertained reply. “But you need to get up. We’re going to be late.”

Bornstellar left and Splendid Dust only had his bleary thoughts for company. He slowly realized his plan had failed spectacularly and Bornstellar had been right; not that he would admit he was wrong. Staring vacantly at the wall, he tried to figure out what Born had meant by “late” and suddenly remembered the Council meeting.

With a low whine of frustration he rolled over, folding himself into a cocoon of bedding and burying his face in a pillow. He wasn’t about to admit he had actually enjoyed sleeping, but he also wasn’t about to get up of his own free will. Bornstellar would just have to drag him out of bed if he wanted him awake.


End file.
